Curb luggage theft

WHEN passengers entrust their bags to the care of airlines, it is in the belief that they will move the luggage from the point of departure to the point of arrival, with no worry about their safety. Unfortunately, such has not been the case in Nigeria in recent years.

Greed and job dissatisfaction seem to be at the centre of the pilfering at the airports, yet there should be no excuse for this criminal behaviour.

However, it must be noted that tampering with passengers’ luggage is not peculiar to Nigerian airports. A recent CNN report revealed how airport workers in the US were stealing from luggage, unaware that they were being recorded on a hidden camera. According to the report, the Miami-Dade Police Department set up the camera following several reports of missing luggage.

The report stated there had been 30 621 claims of missing valuables, mostly from luggage that had been checked in. JFK International Airport in New York topped the list of airports with the most claims of theft from luggage. But that cannot justify what happens on our shores.

To end the pilfering of passengers’ luggage there should be proper and efficient internal control of access to baggage storage spaces, proper documentation of baggage acceptance and release processes and procedures, automated recording of incoming bags and 24/7 supervision of baggage storage and release transactions.

There should be plans in place for the remote monitoring of baggage storage facilities, and thieves should face the maximum penalty and subsequently be fired. There should also be communication gadgets to reach out to passengers whose luggage has gone missing.

The airport authorities should fully automate the system. This would mean that airport staff have minimal contact with passengers’ luggage.

Conveyor belts that frequently break down only encourage pilfering. The task of installing and maintaining conveyor belts at the airport should go to handling companies that have good track records of maintaining highly technical facilities within and outside Nigeria.

The company would provide the service at a minimal cost to other stakeholders. – ThisDay, Nigeria.